A House leader on Saturday recommended Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero de Vera and Synergeia Foundation president Milwida Guevara as possible candidates for Department of Education (DepEd) secretary.
“I have two names in mind for secretary: Popoy de Vera and Nene Guevara. Few have ever had an impact on the education sector as large as the impact these two people have had on the sector,” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said.
Salceda said De Vera’s push for funding for community colleges under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE) program “helped poor and underserved communities produce more college graduates than ever before.”
UAQTE, or the Free College Tuition Law, was principally authored by Salceda.
“That changed the landscape for basic education because most community colleges produce teachers,” Salceda said.
He added De Vera streamlined linkages between DepEd and CHED in offering basic education programs.
“We also worked together in keeping proprietary private schools alive during the pandemic. As many as 140,000 basic education students in private colleges for low-income communities would have been kicked out of the system without our tax reduction policies and the subsidies we pushed for,” Salceda said.
He added that Guevara is “responsible for highlighting the structural defects of the education system and what needs to be done.”
The lawmaker said it is important that the Education Secretary post is not left vacant for too long.
“It will be wise of (Marcos) to choose from these two. They’re the strongest hands in education,” Salceda said.
